COKE BARTRINA

Barcelona, August 2013

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When meeting Coke you are immediately struck by his charm – and his signature mustache. A mix of a skater boy and a dandy, he seems to be the kind of guy that is always in a good mood. And he has every reason to be. His recent photography jobs have hailed from Vogue, Nylon, Urban Outfitters and Nowness, amongst many other renown names. It must the spontaneity of his image. His personal touch of documenting places and people make him the ideal collaborator for OCTAEVO. He hasn't only been taking pictures for us during his summer trip, but is also working on a very special project for us. But that's all we reveal for now...

Tell us about your sailing trip this summer. Where did you go? Do you have any interesting stories to tell?
This summer I went on a sailing trip with my friend Kenneth. We left Barcelona the 1st of August and sailed all the way to Mallorca. There our friends Blanca and Balta joined us. We spent a week around Mallorca and Menorca staying in isolated small bays, where we didn’t even have cell phone service. It was pretty wild since we just had one day of contact with civilization. I have tons of stories from this trip, but a scary one was when we were sailing at night and a ferry came too close. These boats can produce really big scary waves so that we had to deal with the situation somehow.

Tell us something about the neighbourhood you live in?
I live in Gracia, close to Lesseps, and I love my neighbourhood. It’s really quiet and I am close to a nice big green park which has a small hill called Turó del Putget where I can go for a walk, whenever I feel like it. The best thing is that the lab where I get my film developed just moved to a new location, which is a couple of blocks away from my place It’s great since I don’t have to waste time going back and forth.

Your best kept secret about Barcelona?
I would say it’s my wood workshop. It is located in the Collserola mountains and is in a three storey house. I have the workshop on the first floor which has a small patio with a lemon tree and my friends, Adria and Robbie, live upstairs. From the third floor you have a really nice view of Barcelona and the sea, and if I ever get stuck while working on a project, I can go for a walk in the woods, which are only ten minutes away.

Where do you get your inspiration?
I don’t really have a specific source from which I get my inspiration.
I would say I get inspired by everyday life. When I see something that amuses me I take a picture of it. I also have photographers and artists who inspire me but I try to find my own style.

Your latest artistic discovery?
I discovered a few days ago this African band called Nairobi Matata which I really like. Regarding DIY and design Losgogo, they are two guys from Chile who design and produce their own work which I find very interesting. Finally, a friend of mine showed me the work of the Mexican photographer Alejandro Cartagena who does amazing reportages.

Do you have any daily rituals?
I’m not really a person who is into rituals, but every single morning I need a shower and a coffee to begin the day, otherwise it is very hard for me to deal with the morning.

Do you collect anything?
Yeah, I do! I love going to flea markets and buying stuff. Most of the time I go back home with things that I couldn’t have even imagined buying before leaving my place. I collect art, furniture, design stuff, magazines, etc. I also collect logs of different trees to make furniture pieces or other stuff in my wood workshop.

What was the best advice you have ever received?
When I began being serious about taking photos, a guy reviewed my portfolio and told me that I should focus on shooting landscapes. This wasn’t what I wanted to do at all and since I respected him a lot, I decided that I needed to change my style completely and turn it into what it is today.

How do you calm down and relax?
I try to leave the city from time to time and go to nature or to the seashore to relax, especially, after a big job. It’s very hard for me to find moments of silence in the cities and everything goes so fast that sometimes I don’t even have time to think about my projects as much as I would want to.

We heard that your biggest hobby is carpentry. What do you get from it?
It gives me a shelter where I can disconnect. The feeling of producing something with your own hands from the beginning to the end is very satisfying. It’s just another way I found to express myself.

What was the last great meal you had and where?
I usually would talk about meat, but in this case I’m going to say say that the best meal I have every year, is in a small chiringuito in Ibiza. They cook this red fish in a very lovely way.
Every year I wait for that moment.

Sea or Mountains?
Sea in summer. Mountains during the winter.

Ship or plane?
Sailing boat.

Bicycle or moto?
Moto.

Vermouth or beer?
Vermouth on a Sunday morning. Beer for the rest of the week.

Fellini or Godard?
It depends on the movie, but I would say Godard.

Sophia Loren or Brigitte Bardot?
Brigitte, if we are talking about her when she was young.

“Less is more” or “More is more”?
It totally depends on the situation.